Oman woos investors from China at oil and gas forum
MUSCAT: Oman will be looking to attract Chinese investment into the Sultanate’s oil and gas sector, an official from Oman Society of Petroleum Services (OPAL) said.
The Sultanate is hosting the 11th Oil and Gas Exhibition Conference in March where Omani oil and gas service companies are expected to showcase their capabilities and Musallam Al Mandhari, CEO of OPAL believes that this can be used as a platform to attract international investment while promoting Omani companies.
“We are expecting to attract Chinese investments in the country as they have shown interest in the oil and gas sector in Oman in terms of factories and infrastructure here. There is also interest from Libya where we wish to help them revive their oil and gs sector using the expertise that Omani oil and gas companies have. This is to promote the In Country Value (ICV) for the country,” Al Mandhari said.
Earlier versions of this conference has witnessed Omani small and medium enterprises (SMEs) develop into full fledged contractors to larger companies such as Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) and BP, thanks to being brought up at a bigger stage through the conference.
“BP has brought local SMEs to become full time contractors with us now through this conference. We expect more such recognition and achievements for ICV initiatives in the future for these companies,” Shabib Al Mamari, communication and external affairs manager at BP said.
Foreign investments
Oman has seen huge foreign investments in 2017, especially in its free zones in Duqm and Sohar. The Ministry of Oil and Gas has also granted oil and gas exploration licences to both local and international companies.
According to Michelle Boyd, Director of SPE Middle East, North Africa and South Asia, the outlook for the oil and gas industry looks positive in the future and companies will need to continue to develop their technology and operations to create profits as before.
The conference is expected to concentrate on Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) technologies while also tackling issues related to implementation of renewable energy in the hydrocarbons sector.
The SPE EOR Conference, held alongside the OGWA exhibition, will feature a keynote panel session and an executive plenary session where distinguished in- dustry leaders and from the Ministry of Oil and Gas, Oman, will share their views of the industry’s successes and progress made in enhanced oil recovery in addition to enhancing the industry’s contributions to socio-economic developments. Technical sessions will cover the latest advances in chemical EOR, thermal EOR, miscible gas injection EOR and low salinity water flooding and much more.
This year, the exhibition will be held for the first time at the new Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre and will showcase over 300 companies representing 19 countries.
Highlighting the exhibition are six country pavilions (China, Iran, Italy, India, Egypt and the SPE Technology Pavilion), and the ICV Riyada Pavilion, where with the support of Strategic Partner Business Gateways, it will present about 130 companies who will showcase their profiles at the Riyada JSRS e-marketplace and 10 stands at the exhibition.
The OGWA-SPE Exhibition & Conference 2018 will be held from 26-28 March and will be hosted under the auspices of the Ministry of Oil & Gas and supported by PDO and OPAL. His Excellency Mohammad bin Al Zubair, Advisor to His Majesty for Economic Planning Affairs, will formally open the event.